How this calculation works
Adding salt changes both salt mass and total mixture mass. A percentage of the final mixture therefore requires a different denominator from a percentage calculated only against the starting food or flour. This page solves that final-mass balance explicitly.
Added pure salt = (target fraction × base mass − existing salt)/(1 − target fraction)A worked example
A 1000 g base containing 10 g salt targets two percent salt in the completed mixture. The unknown addition x satisfies (10 + x)/(1000 + x) = 0.02. Solving gives about 10.2041 g added salt, not exactly ten. The completed mass is about 1010.2041 g and total salt about 20.2041 g, which verifies the entered final fraction.
Good to know
Pure-salt addition mass balance only; no food safety, preservation, health, nutrient-label or process recommendation. Use consistent ingredient measurements and an appropriate independently established target. Numerical agreement with a percentage does not validate a food process.
What this calculation answers
Adding salt changes both salt mass and total mixture mass. A percentage of the final mixture therefore requires a different denominator from a percentage calculated only against the starting food or flour. This page solves that final-mass balance explicitly.
Any existing salt is already part of the weighed base. The model adds a separate pure-salt mass; it does not add the existing salt to the base a second time.
The Baker’s percentage dough calculator with preferment uses flour as its reference basis. This page uses completed total mass, so the same numeric percentage does not mean the same ingredient fraction.
Use the right input conventions
Enter the complete base mass and the amount of salt it already contains, in grams. Existing salt cannot exceed the whole base. If an ingredient’s salt content is unknown, the calculator cannot infer it from its name.
The target percentage is supplied by you. It is a mathematical mass fraction, not a recommended concentration for fermentation, curing, preservation, dietary planning or any particular recipe.
Interpret the result
If the starting mixture is already saltier than the target, adding more pure salt cannot reach it. That case is rejected instead of returning a negative instruction to remove salt selectively. Dilution or changing ingredients would require another balance.
The result verifies the final fraction using total salt divided by completed mass. A number expressed as sodium on a nutrition label is not automatically the same mass as salt; this page does not perform a sodium-label conversion.
Work through the example
A 1000 g base containing 10 g salt targets two percent salt in the completed mixture. The unknown addition x satisfies (10 + x)/(1000 + x) = 0.02.
Solving gives about 10.2041 g added salt, not exactly ten. The completed mass is about 1010.2041 g and total salt about 20.2041 g, which verifies the entered final fraction.
Where the model stops
Pure-salt addition mass balance only; no food safety, preservation, health, nutrient-label or process recommendation.
Use consistent ingredient measurements and an appropriate independently established target. Numerical agreement with a percentage does not validate a food process.
A few questions, answered
Why is the addition slightly above the simple percentage difference?
The added salt increases the denominator as well as the salt numerator.
Can the tool reduce a mixture that is already too salty?
No. This model permits pure salt addition only and rejects targets below the current fraction.